When a natural disaster strikes and makes national headlines, there is usually an influx of donations from corporations and private citizens. However, some people criticize those who donate to disaster relief funds. They often say there are other causes to donate to that need attention 24/7. To that, I say this: focus on your own charitable actions, not others.
There are plenty of worthy charitable causes out there. On top of that, it would be completely irrational to donate to every charity. Those who take offense when people donate to hurricane disaster relief should research how much it does for victims.
Some charities that provide relief for hurricane victims don’t put money towards boots-on-the-ground efforts, but there are charities that do so, one example being Direct Relief. Those who donate to Direct Relief can check where donations go, and the feature is updated daily.
The aforementioned charity focuses on medical aid for the victims of hurricanes and other natural disasters, including the recent earthquake and tsunami in Mexico. Direct Relief is now on their 60 shipment of relief supplies to Hurricane Harvey victims in Houston.
People looking to donate to hurricane relief funds can use the website Charity Navigator to find a charity that’s right for them. Rather than letting users donate to a random charity, the website makes it easy to find charities offering specific relief efforts, or find out how much money actually goes towards relief.
Most people don’t donate to charity regularly, but when such large natural disasters occur, they rally people together to provide support. Even donating one dollar makes a difference. Charity live streams on streaming services like YouTube and Twitch make $1 donations add up quickly.
One such live stream was the H3H3 podcast with Justin Roiland (creator of “Rick and Morty”) and Alex Hirsch (creator of “Gravity Falls”). They managed to surpass their goal by nearly twice the original amount of $100,000. By auctioning voicemail messages and limited edition merchandise from the respective shows, thousands of $1 raffle ticket purchases turned into a multi-thousand donation for Direct Relief.
While there will always be people in need of charity, it is impossible for the average person to make donations all the time. Donations may be tax deductible, but filing a $1 donation in a tax return isn’t worth the time to some people.
I believe people should relish in the times people can band together to support something rather than knocking people down. When we’re being brigaded with news stories about a lack of unity, situations of disaster like this show just how much can be achieved when people work together. In the future, maybe we can all rally together without life-threatening events taking place.
